AppSumo's $70M marketing plan: six channels explained

Executive overview

Most businesses fail at marketing because they're marketing a product nobody wants. Validate demand first — customers should be eager to pay without being begged.

AppSumo runs six distinct marketing channels, each with a clear revenue contribution. Email alone accounts for more than half of all revenue; affiliates and SEO together add another eight-figure layer.

Build something people want, then double down on the one or two channels already working — and cut everything that isn't.

Email marketing ($37M+ per year)

• Over 50% of total revenue from a single channel.
• List size is the wrong metric — engagement is what matters; only 250k of 1M+ subscribers are active.
• Email is the only channel you fully own and control; social and search algorithms can cut you off.
• Tools used: Sumo.com (pop-ups), KingSumo (giveaways), Klaviyo (e-commerce flows), SendFox (simple/free starting point).

Affiliate and referral marketing ($10M+ per year)

• 6,000 total affiliates; 1,400 active in 2020 — including bloggers, YouTubers, and TikTokers.
• Affiliate program: pay a commission (10–30%) for any new customer referred.
• Referral program: existing customers earn store credits for referring friends — a separate mechanic.
• Top referrers are identified and upgraded to full affiliate status.
• Three full-time staff run outreach to influencers and manage the programme.
• Requires active management: watch for spammers, keyword-bidding abuse, and off-brand promotion.
• Tools: iDev Affiliate (cheap, good to start), Impact.com (six figures/year, full tracking and payout control); a Google spreadsheet works at the earliest stage.

Paid ads ($10M+ per year)

• Primary platforms: Facebook and Google; experiments on Reddit, YouTube ads, and Display Network.
• Testimonial ads — featuring real customers — have outperformed standard creative.
• Influencer-integrated video ads build trust by borrowing the influencer's credibility.
• Traffic is sent to a product page, homepage, or a dedicated landing page to capture emails.

SEO and content marketing ($13M+ per year)

• 1,180% organic growth from May 2020 to April 2021.
• Focus on high buying-intent keywords to attract visitors ready to purchase.
• Two to three new blog posts per week; active backlink building to raise domain authority.
• Blog converts visitors via three paths: leave, join the email list, or click through to a product.

Influencer marketing ($600k per year, fastest growing)

• Flat-fee sponsorships rather than commission — brand awareness, not direct response.
• Bonus: influencer content can be repurposed in paid ads.
• Lower-tier influencers (10k followers or fewer) deliver better ROI than mainstream names.
• Platforms used: YouTube, TikTok, podcasts.
• Budget scaled from $10k to $1M in one year.

Direct traffic and repeat buyers (~$10M per year)

• Loyal customers who return unprompted — driven by word of mouth and brand mindshare.
• Mindshare means being the first brand someone thinks of when a specific problem arises (e.g. Shopify for e-commerce).
• Built slowly: solve an important problem extremely well, consistently, over a long time.

Building your own marketing plan

• Confirm product-market fit before investing in any channel — customers should be eager to pay.
• Set a single, concrete goal and work backwards to identify which channels serve it.
• 10x what's working. AppSumo dropped time and budget on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok — none converted.
• Consistency over time compounds results more than any single campaign.